Helen Girl Name

The name Helen is of Greek origin, and means light.
The table below indicates the number of times the name Helen has been given to baby girls in recent years.
The last 125 years refers to 1880 through 2004; last year refers to 2004.
The rank and count values are based on U.S. Social Security Administration counts for the one thousand most popular names given to baby girls in each of these years.

Cumulative Usage Chart for the Name Helen

Use of the Name Helen for Girls During the Last ...

125 Years

50 Years

25 Years

10 Years

5 Years

2 Years

1 Year

1,006,854

86,601

21,047

8,490

4,274

1,631

854

The table below indicates the number of times the name Helen has been given to baby girls and baby boys each year, from 1880 through 2004.
A blank entry indicates that the name did not rank among the top one thousand names given to girls or boys, respectively, during the specified year.

Yearly Usage Chart for the Name Helen

Used as a Girl Name

Used as a Boy Name

Year

Rank

Count

Rank

Count

1880

35

636

1881

43

612

743

7

1882

31

838

1883

35

863

962

5

1884

33

986

1885

28

1,134

874

6

1886

25

1,267

1887

21

1,405

1888

16

1,848

1889

17

1,908

746

8

1890

12

2,312

844

7

1891

9

2,416

666

9

1892

9

2,936

900

7

1893

6

3,249

795

8

1894

4

3,676

817

8

1895

3

4,023

496

17

1896

3

4,392

749

10

1897

3

4,518

506

16

1898

3

5,231

513

17

1899

3

5,048

491

16

1900

2

6,345

592

18

1901

2

5,247

478

17

1902

2

5,967

361

30

1903

2

6,127

357

29

1904

2

6,487

596

15

1905

2

6,811

426

26

1906

2

7,172

433

26

1907

2

7,572

547

20

1908

2

8,421

442

30

1909

2

9,225

412

36

1910

2

10,449

526

29

1911

2

11,764

429

46

1912

2

16,071

696

38

1913

2

18,843

639

49

1914

2

23,177

718

53

1915

2

30,836

779

60

1916

2

32,658

644

83

1917

2

34,224

806

62

1918

2

36,155

717

79

1919

2

33,701

841

61

1920

3

35,061

871

62

1921

3

34,792

858

65

1922

3

32,495

835

67

1923

3

31,481

856

63

1924

3

31,197

746

80

1925

4

29,133

725

80

1926

4

26,849

747

74

1927

4

25,290

678

90

1928

4

22,916

678

87

1929

4

20,989

710

77

1930

4

19,896

685

84

1931

6

17,639

758

67

1932

8

16,349

629

90

1933

8

14,638

639

82

1934

9

14,089

904

49

1935

10

12,773

759

66

1936

11

12,224

838

53

1937

12

11,450

752

66

1938

13

10,833

767

64

1939

16

10,426

938

45

1940

18

10,205

1941

24

9,885

919

48

1942

26

10,021

1943

28

9,756

1944

31

8,679

1945

31

8,294

1946

36

8,827

1947

38

8,974

1948

40

8,319

1949

46

7,696

1950

50

7,059

1951

54

6,931

1952

63

6,465

1953

65

6,120

1954

72

5,952

1955

78

5,604

1956

90

5,275

1957

95

5,009

1958

100

4,758

1959

108

4,376

1960

117

4,072

1961

119

3,847

1962

128

3,590

1963

124

3,341

1964

132

3,097

1965

137

2,802

1966

144

2,450

1967

158

2,150

1968

173

1,879

1969

174

1,860

1970

191

1,704

1971

209

1,436

1972

225

1,247

1973

222

1,136

1974

225

1,137

1975

230

1,056

1976

251

939

1977

249

991

1978

255

924

1979

281

874

1980

275

906

1981

276

892

1982

279

870

1983

279

840

1984

281

860

1985

301

808

1986

313

764

1987

297

815

1988

321

771

1989

305

858

1990

318

860

1991

339

775

1992

326

827

1993

307

866

1994

320

845

1995

325

835

1996

313

898

1997

344

811

1998

349

831

1999

356

841

2000

346

887

2001

344

883

2002

340

873

2003

391

777

2004

364

854

Totals:

1,006,854

2,407

During the last 125 years, parents have used Helen as a girl's name about 99% of the time and less frequently (about 0% of the time) as a boy's name.